“I felt very maternal around eight months,” she told the mag. “And I thought I couldn’t become any more until I saw the baby. . . . But it happened during my labor because I had a very strong connection with my child. I felt like when I was having contractions, I envisioned my child pushing through a very heavy door. And I imagined this tiny infant doing all the work, so I couldn’t think about my own pain. . . . We were talking. I know it sounds crazy, but I felt a communication.”

Her little girl even joined her in the studio while she recorded the follow-up to her 2011 album, 4. Her friend, actress Gwyneth Paltrow even recalls Blue being slung in her arms as she listened back to some of the tracks, which Bey has said will be “a lot more sensual…empowering.”

(Courtesy of Patrick Demarchelier/Vogue)

“Right now, after giving birth, I really understand the power of my body,” she explained. “I just feel my body means something completely different. I feel a lot more confident about it. Even being heavier, thinner, whatever. I feel a lot more like a woman. More feminine, more sensual. And no shame.”

(Courtesy of Patrick Demarchelier/Vogue)

The recent GRAMMY-winner also talked about her documentary, Life Is But A Dream, premiering February 16 on HBO. In the doc Bey gives an up close and personal look at her life from vacationing with hubby Jay-Z (the two even duet on a cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow”) to her decision to replace her dad, Matthew Knowles as her business manager.

“This movie has healed me in so many ways,” she says. “It makes me want to cry.

Though Beyoncé admits she does read an occasional story about herself, she doesn’t bother checking out the comments.